Science Final Review
Terms
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- Spring
- the point at which the water table meets Earth's surface, causing water to flow from the ground
- transform boundary
- between two plates that are sliding horizontally past one another
- compression force
- squeezing forces that compress rocks together at convergent plate boundaries,causing them to deform, fold and break
- strick-slip fault
- a break in rocks due to shearing forces where rocks on either side of the fault move past each other without much upward or downward movement
- Water
- important agent of chemical weathering the hydrogen and oxygen atoms in water react with chemicals in some rocks to form new compounds.
- U-shaped
- glacier
- unconformity
- gaps in a sequence of rock layers (the rock record), resulting from erosion or a lack of new deposition or both. A nonconformity occurs when sedimentary rock layers from above metamorphic or intursive igneous rocks.
- Mesosphere
- stars
- Mt. St. Helens
- Volcanic Mountains
- Creep
- a type of mass movement in which sediments move down a hill slowly, sometimes causing posts and trees to lean
- Drainage basin
- the land area drained by a river system
- radioactive decay
- the decay of an atom of one element to form another element, occurring when an alpha or beta particle is expelled from the original atom.
- earthquake
- the movement of the ground caused by waves from energy released as rocks move along faults
- River system
- water runs off the ground and enters small streams . where the small streams join a larger stream forms. finally these larger streams merge, forming a largter body of water called a river.
- acid rain
- acidic rain, snow, sleet or hail that can form when sulfur dioxide(from coal-burning power plants) and nitrogen oxide (from car exhausts) combine with moisture in the air.
- Meander
- a curve in a mature stream.
- petrified remains
- plant or animal remains that have been petrified, or turned to rock; this happens when minerals carried in groundwater replace the original materials.
- Deflation
- wind erosion that removes loose, finegrained sediments such as clay or silt, and leaves behind coarser material.
- Meteorology
- the study of Earth's weather and the forces that cause it
- Technology
- the application of scientific discoveries; can both contribute to problems and solve problems
- Fault-block mountain
- jagged mountains formed from huge, tilted blocks of rock that are seperated from surrounding rock by faults
- Valley glacier
- the most common type of glacier, occurs in mountain valleys where the temperatures are low enough to allow snow to accumulate faster than it can melt
- Mudflow
- a thick mixture of sediments and water flowing down a slope
- focus
- point in Earth's interior where earthquake energy is released
- uniformitarianism
- this principle states that Earth process occurring today are similar to those that occured in the past.
- Troposhere
- the layer of Earth's atmosphere closest to the ground;contains clouds,dust,ice,liquid water,smog,weather, and 75% of atmospheric gases
- sulfurous smog
- a gray-colored air pollution created when power plants and home furnaces burn fossil fuels, releasing sulfur compounds and smoke particles into the air
- cast
- a type of fossil formed when an earlier fossil in the rock is dissolved away, leaving behind the impression of that fossil (a mold), and new sediments or mineral crystals fill the mold.
- Abrasion
- a type of erosion caused by wearing or scraping away by sand grains or other particles striking other sand grains and rocks, breaking off small fragmants. The particles can be transported by wind, water, ice, or gravity.
- dikes
- an intrusive igneous rock body formed when magma is squeezed into a verical crack that cuts across rock layers and solidifies underground.
- Sediment
- loose materials such as rock fragments of rocks, minerals and or organic matter are compacted or cemented together or precipitate out of solution.
- trace fossils
- fossilized tracks and other evidence of animal activity (for example, a handprint in plaster of paris)
- Well
- pump brings the water to the surface, must go down at least past the top of the water table to reach water.
- Geology
- the study of Earth and its matter, processes, and history
- Rocky Mountain
- upwarped mountains
- acid
- any substance with a pH lower than seven; the lower the pH number, the greater the acidity.
- photochemical smog
- a brown-colored air pollution that forms when sunlight chemically changes the pollutants released into the air by burning fossil fuels.
- reverse fault
- a compression fracture in rocks where rocks that are above the fault surface are forced up over rocks that are below the fault surface
- Zone of saturation
- an area where all the pores in the rock are completely filled with water, usually near the ground surface.
- seismic wave
- are elastic waves transmitted through and around the earth. they are generated by earthquakes and large explosions.
- Nitric Acid
- the main source of nitric acid in acid rain is from car exhaust
- 1986 Safe Drinking Water Act
- this 1986 law sets safety standards for drinking water in the United Sates
- Conservation
- the careful use of resources to avoid wasting them and damaging the enviorment; includes reusing and recycling resources
- Insecticides
- insect killers can runoff and reach the ocean
- Young stream
- a stream that flows swiftly down a steep slope or a valley with steep sides, causing rapid erosion.
- Fertilizer
- cause some types of alge to reproduce rapidly if they go into the oceans
- Groundwater
- water that soaks into the ground and collects in the pores spaces between particles of rock and soil
- Alternative fuels
- fuel sources such as solar, nuclear and geothermal power to reduce air pollution
- Sedimentary rock
- rock formed when fragments of rocks, minerals and or organic matter are compacted or cemented together or precipitate out of solution.
- primary wave
- are the fastest seismic waves. they move as a series of alternating compressions and expansions like a spring.
- carbonaceous film
- a fossil impression in a rock, consisting only of a thin carbon residue that forms an outline of the original organism.
- sulfuric acid
- formed when sulfur from coal-burning power plants combines with moisture in the air
- shear force
- along strike-strip faults, forces that push on rocks from various directions causing them to shift & break
- isotope
- atoms of the same element that have different numbers of neutrons in their nuclei but same number of protons
- Artesian well
- a well in which water under natural pressure rises to the surface without being pumped.
- ultraviolet radiation
- one of many types of energy that comes to Earth from the sun. Too much exposure can damage the skin and cause cancer and other health problems in many types of plants and animals.
- Water table
- the upper surface of the zone of saturation .
- fossil
- the remains, imprints, or traces of once-living organisms, usually preserved in rock, that tell us when, where, and how those organisms lived.
- Mechanical Weathering
- the breaking apart of rocks without chnaging their chemical composition; for example by plant roots or ice
- Nitrogen dioxide(from auto exhaust)
- chemjcal produced from auto exhausts into the air
- Upwarped mountain
- mountains formed when Earth's crust is pushed up and eroded, forming sharp peaks and ridges
- Chemical pollution
- nitrogen and phosphorus are released into rivers and streams from household detergents, soaps, and other cleaning agents
- chlorofluorocarbons
- a group of chemical compounds used in refrigerators, aerosol sprays, and foam packaging that contain carbon molecules that destroy the ozone.
- Impermeable
- rock or soil that has few pores or small pores, preventing water from passing through
- principal of superposition
- states that in an undisturbed layer of rock, older rocks lie at the bottom and the rocks become younger toward the top
- Rockslide
- occur when large blocks of rock break loose from a steep slope and start tumbling.
- mold
- a cavity in a rock that has the shape of a fossil that was trapped there; water dissolved the fossil away, leaving its imprint.
- Normal fault
- a pull-apart tension fracture in rocks where rocks that are above the fault surface drop downward in relation to rocks that are below the fault surface
- Plant roots
- they find water and nutrients. as the roots grow they wedge rock apart
- Volcanic mountain
- mountains created when magma within Earth escapes to the surface, building cones of lava and ash
- Clean Air Act
- this 1990 U.S. law sets a maximum level for major air pollutants
- Stream erosion
- as the water in a stream moves along, it constantly picks up sediments from the bottom and sides of its channel. all of these different sized materials scrap along the bottom and sides of a channel where they continue to knock loose more sediments
- greenhouse effect
- natural heating caused by gases in our atmosphere trapping heat, carbon dioxide is the main greenhouse gas
- Physics
- when you study forces, motion, energy, and their effects on matter you are studying
- Deposition
- the final step in an erosional process, in which sediments are dropped by running water, wind, gravity, or glaciers as their energy of motion decreases.
- epicenter
- the point on Earth's surface directly above an earthquake's focus
- Hot spring
- a spring of heated groundwater, caused when the water is warmed by rocks that come into contact with molten material under Earth's surface.
- radiometric dating
- a dating method uses the rate of decay of radioactive isotopes in rocks and measure the amount of parent and daughter materials to determine the absolute age of the rock
- Floodplain
- the broad , flat valley floor carved by a meandering stream and often covered with water when the stream floods.
- Herbicides
- weed killers can runoff and reach the ocean
- Cave
- a large underground opening formed when groundwater gradually dissolves limestone.
- Ph scale
- a logarithmic scale used to describe how acidic or how basic a solution is; an abbreviation of potential of Hydrogen.
- Permeable
- describes rock or soil that has connecting pores that allow water to pass through easily.
- Gully erosion
- a type of surface water erosion due to runoff, in which water swiftly running down a slope creates large channels in tyhe soil or rock
- Astronomy
- the study of objects in space, including stars, planets, comets, and their orgins
- V-shaped
- water
- carbon dioxide
- the main greenhouse gas.Without the greenhouse effect, life would not be possible on earth. Like Mars, earth would be too cold.
- Thermal expansion
- expansion using heat
- Stratosphere
- Above the troposhere lies the stratosphere. A layer of ozone that includes weather balloons & jet stream exists within the stratosphere that directly affects your health.
- Pesticides
- weed killers can runoff and reach the ocean
- Chemical weathering
- the breaking up of rocks due to a change in their chemical composition
- half life
- the time it takes for half of the atoms of an isotope to decay.
- Ice Wedging
- the breaking or rocks when water in cracks freezes and expands; a type of mechanical weathering
- Oxidation
- chemical weathering that occurs when a substance is exposed to oxygen and water.
- thermosphere
- one important layer is the ionosphere (electrically charged particles used for communication)
- Folded Mountain
- mountains created when rock layers are squeezed from opposite sides, causing them to buckle and fold
- reforestation
- The planting of a large number of trees, helping remove carbon dioxide
- Base
- any substance with a pH above seven; the higher the pH number, the more basice the solution.
- daughter product
- radioactive decay resulting from the parent isotope
- secondary waves
- are shear waves, where material vibrates up and down as the waves advance.
- Pollution
- the introduction of harmful substances into an enviorment .
- Earth Science
- the study of Earth and space; includes geology, meteorology, astronomy, and oceanography
- Scrubber
- lets the gases in the smoke dissolve in water until the smoke's pH increases to a safe level from coal-burning power plants. This produces less sulfur.
- global warming
- Means global temperatures are rising. One reason for global warming is the increase of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere. An increase in greenhouse gases increases the greenhouse effect.
- parent material
- original isotope in the radioactive decay process
- Appalacian Mountains
- Folded Mountains
- Geyser
- a hot spring of groundwater that erupts periodically, shooting water and steam into the air.
- Slump
- a type of mass movement in which one large mass of loose material or rock layers moves downhill, leaving a curved scar.
- Cementation
- a sedimentary rock-forming process in which large sediments are glued together by minerals deposited between the sediments
- correlating
- determining the similarites within the rock layers
- index fossil
- a fossil of a species that was abundant, existed briefly, and was widespread geographically; used in determining the relative ages of rock layers
- Aquifer
- a layer of permeable rock that has connecting pores and transmits water freely
- Sierra Nevadas
- Fault-Block Mountains
- Compaction
- a sedimentary rock-forming process that occurs when layers of small sediments become compressed by the weight of layers above them
- absolute dating
- determing the age in years, of rocks or other objects, using the radioactive decay of their atoms
- Old stream
- a stream that flows slowly down a gradual slope through broad floddplain that it has made; often meandering
- Carbonic acid
- a weak acid that forms when water mixes with carbon dioxide from air
- relative dating
- determining the order of events and the relative age of rocks by examining the positions of rocks in layers
- sills
- an intrusive igneous rock body formed when magma is squeezed into horizontal crack between rock layers and solidifies underground.
- Sheet erosion
- a type of surface water erosion due to runoff, in which rainwater flowing over a gentle slope slowly moves sediments from the entire surface.
- Oceanography
- the study of Earth's oceans, their processes, and life within them
- deforestation
- Mass removal of trees; also affects the amount of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere.
- Chemistry
- is the study of the properties and composition of matter
- fault
- surfaces along which rocks break and move
- Mass movement
- a type of erosion in which gravity causes loose materials to move downslope; can occur slowly or quickly
- Life Science
- is the science that studies living organisms
- Mature stream
- a stream that flows less swiftly down a medium slope or a medium valley, most of the rocks that cause waterfalls have been eroded away. the stream starts to erode more along its sides
- Ozone Layer
- A layer of the stratosphere with a high concentration of ozone; protects living things by absorbing ultraviolet radiation from the sun.
- Sulfur dioxide(from coal burning)
- produced from coal-burning power plants
- exosphere
- uppermost part of Earth's atmosphere, beyond it lies space. There is no clear boundary between the atmosphere and space.
- Runoff
- water that neither soaks into the ground nor evaporates but instead flows across Earth's surface and eventually into streams, lakes, or oceans
- tension force
- force that can pull rocks apart and create a normal fault
- extinct
- describes a species that no longer has any living members anywhere on Earth (dinosaurs)
- Continental glacier
- a glacier of considerable thickness that covers a vast area; existing now only in Greenland and Antartica
- Rill erosion
- a type of surface water erosion due to runoff, in which water swiftly running down the slope creates small channels in the soil; these channels can enlarge into gullies.
- 1987 Clean Water Act
- this 1987 U.S. law gives money to the states for building sewage and wastewatertreatment facilities and for controlling runoff from streets, farms, and mines